Systraat on SABC 3

About Systraat

SABC3 brings you the first adult animated sitcom exclusive to its YouTube channel

Show Schedule

Tuesday

08:00 PM – 09:00 PM

Show Contributors

Show Details

Systraat is an Afrikaans comedy with subtitles that goes live weekly on Tuesdays at 20:00 on the channels Youtube page. The comedy depicts the exploits of the Kotze family, who live in a humble suburban home. Gys is the man of the house, an enthusiastic but also dim character who has trouble staying at one job for more than a month. His short attention span causes him to quickly lose interest in anything he does, and so he is tempted to keep trying new things. He also sees himself as an aspiring inventor and often spends his time inventing…well, junk.

His lovely wife, Estée, is a driven woman. She owns her own hair salon called the Kotze Kut. She is professional and often portrays herself as being classier than she actually is. She is a good, caring but also strict mother. Heinrich, the younger of the two sons, is an absolute academic. He is smart and logical, but this unfortunately gives him the all too familiar label of being a nerd. He is completely unsociable and would rather spend the day behind his computer than anywhere else. Luckily for him, his best buddy, Themba, is always there to be his wingman and voice of reason.

In contrast, Hein’s older brother, Werner, is a sportsman supreme! He plays first team rugby and is athletic, well-built and strong. He does however have a habit of lying about his achievements to get extra attention, (and girls)! His lies often get him into compromising situations. He also gets his intelligence from his father (which is not a good thing)!

Systraat deals with relevant and universal topics such as father mother-son relationships, teenage love, High school struggles, conditions at the work place, friendships and family squabbles in a unique and local setting. A topic such as sibling rivalry for example, is prevalent in most families, and so the viewers will be able to identify with an argument between two brothers. The premise of a family set up has universal appeal, and being an animated family, these identifiable topics and situations can be exaggerated in a humorous and entertaining fashion. The storylines throughout the series deal with engaging and hilarious events which take the Kotze family from the bushveld to Margate and even Cape Town. Systraat aims to explore recognizable situations in a humorous tone and in doing so; the viewers can experience the lighter side of life.

Retro style animation, also known as graphic animation, is a style which originated in the 1960’s. This period was known as the golden age of 2D animation. Characters were designed in a very crude, but “straight to the point” manner. The drawings were highly stylized, clearly depicting the emotion and the appeal of the characters.

Today, this style of animation is being digitized and animated by computer, and is known as flash animation. This is the animation style which will be utilized for Systraat.

This style is best known for being economical in both time and cost. The approach is to have highly stylised characters and backgrounds, which grab the viewers’ attention, along with drawings which are produced efficiently, yet are still able to convey the emotion and the appeal that allows us to breathe life into the characters. The ensemble of characters forms a distinctive animated community which represents all South Africans. The characters and their reactions and attitudes towards the situations they find themselves in are identifiable across all cultures.

The series is a fresh new look at the lives of a group of South Africans and how they deal with their day-to-day lives. It is a humorous look, a witty look, a ridiculous look, and best of all, an animated look! A first for South African television!